Construction accident near downtown causing traffic...

1of11Houston firefighters and construction crews work to dislodge a piece of equipment accidentally driven into the Alabama Street bridge over the Southwest Freeway on Wednesday, April 24, 2019.Photo: Jay R. Jordan

2of11Houston firefighters and construction crews work to dislodge a piece of equipment accidentally driven into the Alabama Street bridge over the Southwest Freeway on Wednesday, April 24, 2019.Photo: Jay R. Jordan

3of11Houston firefighters and construction crews work to dislodge a piece of equipment accidentally driven into the Alabama Street bridge over the Southwest Freeway on Wednesday, April 24, 2019.Photo: Jay R. Jordan

4of11Houston firefighters and construction crews work to dislodge a piece of equipment accidentally driven into the Alabama Street bridge over the Southwest Freeway on Wednesday, April 24, 2019.Photo: Jay R. Jordan

5of11Houston firefighters and construction crews work to dislodge a piece of equipment accidentally driven into the Alabama Street bridge over the Southwest Freeway on Wednesday, April 24, 2019.Photo: Jay R. Jordan

6of11Houston firefighters and construction crews work to dislodge a piece of equipment accidentally driven into the Alabama Street bridge over the Southwest Freeway on Wednesday, April 24, 2019.Photo: Jay R. Jordan

7of11Houston firefighters and construction crews work to dislodge a piece of equipment accidentally driven into the Alabama Street bridge over the Southwest Freeway on Wednesday, April 24, 2019.Photo: Jay R. Jordan

8of11Houston police officers block parts of Alabama Street just east of Almeda Road after a construction accident on Wednesday, April 24, 2019.Photo: Jay R. Jordan

A construction worker operating a front-loader accidentally wedged it underneath the Alabama Street overpass at the Southwest Freeway on Wednesday, creating what could be a traffic nightmare for commuters.

Houston firefighters were called out to the site where construction crews are working on the Texas 288 expansion and toll road near U.S. 59 and Alabama Street around 2:30 p.m. A worker accidentally drove the equipment into the bridge, wedging it between the bridge deck and slope.

Firefighters on scene told Chron.com that they are unsure why the worker crashed, saying the worker possibly suffered some sort of medical event and lost control of the equipment. He fell out of the front-loader and was rushed to an area hospital in an unknown condition, firefighters said.

Jay R. Jordan is the Houston Chronicle’s breaking news reporter for Chron.com. He was raised in Montgomery, Texas, and attended Sam Houston State University in Huntsville. There, he led the student newspaper that helped the university win the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association’s coveted director’s trophy two years in a row. From Sam Houston State University, he interned at Community Impact Newspaper before working as breaking news reporter for The Courier of Montgomery County. He has worked in the Houston Chronicle newsroom since January 2018.